He seemed to know the harbour,
So leisurely he swam;
His fin,
Like a piece of sheet-iron,
Three-cornered,
And with knife-edge,
Stirred not a bubble
As it moved
With its base-line on the water.
His body was tubular
And tapered
And smoke-blue,
And as he passed the wharf
He turned,
And snapped at a flat-fish
That was dead and floating.
And I saw the flash of a white throat,
And a double row of white teeth,
And eyes of metallic grey,
Hard and narrow and slit.
Then out of the harbour,
With that three-cornered fin
Shearing without a bubble the water
Lithely,
Leisurely,
He swam—
That strange fish,
Tubular, tapered, smoke-blue,
Part vulture, part wolf,
Part neither—for his blood was cold.
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The Shark by Edwin John Pratt
From guest Reader (contact)
The poem is about someone witnessing a shark (probably great white). The shark swims up to the dock calmly and snaps at the dead fish floating on the water. After that, the shark swims calmly away from the dock. Look at the structure of the poem as well, it looks like a shark! -
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The structure looks more like a hammerhead than a great white to me.
However I do agree that the poet is being descriptive and not allegorical.
Jim
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Very unique.
I never heard this kind of poem. I think I might know what kind of shark he is talking about; Its the great white.
His body was tubular
And tapered
And smoke-blue,white throat,And a double row of white teeth,
And eyes of metallic gray. Its easy to figure out, if you read it a few times. -
Main Topic
From guest Anonymous Joe (contact)
I think its a Gun..He`s fin like a sheet of iron could be the triangle thing in the front of most guns, And with a knife edge could be the knife on the front of the guns used in ww one, He`s body was tubular a gun could be round..smoky blue the smoke that comes out of the gun...thats not all there`s alot more! -
Emotion
From guest unknown (contact)
what is the emotion of the poem... because i dont get the poem one bit -
Analysis
From guest Jonathan (contact)
I'm doing this for an assignment. On a literal level, I know there's an image of the unpredictable, ruthless power of the shark. Here's section of my assignment where I talk about the core meaning - let me know what you think: ...Amidst the graphic language, Pratt subtly juxtaposes a theme of a person’s capacity to do great good or evil. He strongly hints at this theme in the last section of the poem, where he describes a “strange fish… part vulture, part wolf, part neither.” Using this open-ended description he applies the poem to other species than sharks, and possibly people. In particular, Pratt personifies the shark throughout the poem by referring to the shark with the pronoun “he” rather than “it”. In essence, he tries to encourage readers to relate to the shark, and see themselves represented by the shark. However, Pratt then de-humanizes the shark with the cold, machine-like qualities. These interesting contradictions serve to create a starkly contrasting environment of innate human compassion and the shark’s menacing character. In this environment, readers will tend to defend human nature to freely love, and want to reject Pratt’s comparison of humans to heartless killers. By provoking a response in his audience, readers can realize that while humans are compassionate by nature, they can just as easily do great evil. Since this poem was written in 1922, Pratt was probably influenced by the negative effects of World War I. Through a stark comparison to cold, ruthless nature of a shark, Pratt communicated that the human nature to love was paramount to human identity. Most of all, he believed society should make conscientious decisions to reflect humanity’s compassion, because only compassion separated humans from the nature of other dominant species in the animal kingdom. ** Comments are very welcome - I need to bring up my mark! ** -
the poem
From guest matilda (contact)
i am doing an exam about this poem in language arts but i don't understand it, all i know is it's about a shark. please help me -
great poem
From guest deron buske (contact)
that poem is amazing i love it i mean i don't read alot of poems but that was crazy -
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for jackie yen
Please read the other comments, you will then be able to see other perceptions and come to your conconclusion.
Von - Oldpoetry Team
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ENGLISH
From guest Heather (contact)
WHAT KIND OF SHARK IS IN THIS POEM ?!?!?!
MOD MESSAGE
Have a look here and then you decide
http://www.kidzone.ws/sharks/facts9.htm
Of course he might have meant a lawyer. -
English Work
From guest Paige (contact)
For english class my teacher asked me to guess/ research the shark described in poem, yet I have done so, I cannot find the proper shark.
Please help me and answer what type of shark this is . Thank you soo much.
MOD MESSAGE
Have a look here and then you decide
http://www.kidzone.ws/sharks/facts9.htm
Of course he might have meant a lawyer. -
Chillingly beautiful
From guest Patricia Fry (contact)
"Tubular, tapered, smoke-blue" .... such a perfect description. I like the way the subject of the poem is only mentioned in the title. Canadian poet E.J. Pratt does it again. -
help
am stuck i need help in analysing the poem becouse i have contradicting results.is the shark an animal or its asymbol of some thing fearce
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help
From guest irene (contact)
pliz analyse the meaning of this poem ,becouse i think its about ashark and on the other hand i feel its about acountry feared by others -
i need help
From guest irene (contact)
i have apresentation tomorrow please explain your view meaning of this poem.what poetic techniques are used,and the writers motive please help -
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To guest Yaha anzar,
If you take a look through the comments on this poem you will find help from other readers (including me). It is debatable wether there are any metaphors here, it could all be absolutely straightforward observation.
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=]
From guest Em C (contact)
Pratt is relating the shark to a (killing) machine."metallic grey" "sheet-iron" "knife-edge" "part neither- for his blood was cold" It's quite enjoyable to read and has many interpretations, but I think this one makes a lot of sense if you think about it. -
Help!!
From guest Tommy (contact)
Does anyone know anything about the shape of the poem or why the author uses these specific line lengths? -
personally
From guest Matt (contact)
i personally believe that this poem is representing a bully or criminal, it goes to pick on its weak prey (in this case a fish) and swims away leisurely, feeling it has done a great job. -
Ohhh crap
From guest Dylan (contact)
Hey, i gotta do a presentation on this poem. Is this about how savagry can be hidden behind what the eye sees as beautiful, or symbol of man, and how they look calm one time, but have the intention of murder on the inside. -
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Sounds like you have a wonderful teacher that wants you to stretch your mind. Suggest you reread the poem at least five to six times, highlight the words that have double meaning, look some of those terms up in a dictionary, and then (this is where the work comes in), start making connections to other poems and stories that you are well versed with. How about the image of the shark in the classic Jaws movie. What's the connection with fear and respect? How about the shape of the fin--in and of itself it is a marvel of design. So, how is it that it becomes a sysbol of automatic fear?
Have fun doing your assignment.
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j turner
It reminds me of another poem. can't rmemeber the author.
A man tells the universe he exists, but the universe replys that this has not obligated the universe in any way. Not the exact words but the sense I hope. The shark is part of that indifferent universe. Cold-blooded, and in no way concerned with man. -
jturner
one of my favorite poems. The last line leaves my blood cold, and raises goosebumps on my skin. -
help!
From guest rebecca (contact)
hi! i have to anaylise this poem and i wonder if you could help me with some ideas. i dont really get how to anaylise this poem! needing help!!! -
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This is a very open poem.
It is about --A Shark!
It describes a shark swimming around a harbour, probably a small fishing harbour not a large commercial one. Feeding on a dead fish (comparison with a vulture feeding on carrion) and then going away in its own leisurely way.
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